[1FastMopar]

Ok, here is the deal.. I raced circle track for years, obviously we have no converter. I am the engine guy, not the transmission/converter guy, SO, I believe that my car is hurting due to converter slippage, I have worked with John Winters Sr./ and Jr. from the beginning of this project, they have done an AWESOME job on my PG, but I feel we have been falling short on the converter.

Here is where I am at now, I have talked to a few of the "known" converter guys about a new converter, I feel any one of them can get me going in the right direction, ALL speak highly of John Sr., lets face it, John has worked with converters on a daily bases for about the last 40 years, he MUST know what he is doing!! With that said, I am not quite ready to abandon him, I spoke for a while with him yesterday, he is gonna really put his thinking cap on and build me something totally different from what I have.


What am I looking for here?? I know nothing about converters, I hear things out there like "spragless, is this something I should be going with or not, what else do you think is important?

I came to the conclusion that I am driving through the converter based on a few things, it seems that when I pill up the car, it does not respond in reduced ET like I would figure, I took the big tires off and put a set of drag radials on it, came out on a small shot on the progressive and went the best 60ft I have ever went w/ a 1.200, I have not ran that on the big tires hitting it with a 350 hit right off the brake.

What am I missing here? Throw some ideas at me what I should expect from the converter change, it currently has a 10" converter, gonna go to a 10.5" now, but don't really know anymore details, other then John said it is gonna be tight, tight, tight... I will talk with him in more detail next week, but didn't want to take anymore of his time yesterday, he said the converter will be done in about 10 days, he said he is gonna build the whole thing himself.

 

[SHAKEY]

eddie, stay with the sprag style converter.... stick with your guy john. if you change up now?? you have to start all over with a new guy. all previous info is lost!! 10.5 sounds right.. from what you told me, you are definitley driving thru the 1 you have now.i changed from my old transking to a neal chance.. starting from scratch sucks.... best of luck!!

 

[1FastMopar]

eddie, stay with the sprag style converter.... stick with your guy john. if you change up now?? you have to start all over with a new guy. all previous info is lost!! 10.5 sounds right.. from what you told me, you are definitley driving thru the 1 you have now.i changed from my old transking to a neal chance.. starting from scratch sucks.... best of luck!!

Thanks. I think to stick with John @ JW is just the thing to do.. It is not like we have went through a dozen converters, the one that is in it is only the second one in over 3 years and we pulled the last one out just to tighten things up some. I have also picked up a bunch of power, as well as the car just keeps gaining weight, which all put the converter under more load. I have NEVER broke a converter OR transmission in hundreds of passes and thousands of street miles over the last 3 1/2 years, trans was only seriously gone through once, and that is cause the dipstick was not reading correctly and I ran it low on fluid, we brought the trans to them, they fixed it the same day! :supz:

I can not say enough good about JW Transmisson! I know that their name does not come up a bunch in the outlaw world, but they are tops when it comes to the service I have had, we are just now getting into being more serious with the converter, I will keep you guys updated as things progress..

So you say stay with a sprag, ok. I will check to see what we have now, and where we are going... I know I seem ignorant about this, that is cause I am, converters are just something I have not gotten into seriously, but I guess I gotta start somewhere. :-D

It seems like John is very interested in getting on top of this, he wants me to give him whatever input I can. I am soon gonna get a data logger so I can see what the converter is doing, so that will help a lot. :smt038 Without a doubt, not having a data logger puts me at a big disadvantage, I am sure. Information is key!

 

[fasternows10]

I'm goinh thru the same thing with my 8.50 truck right now. I have a spragless trans specialties in it. Went 4 bigger (32 to a 36)on the fogger pill and only picked up 1mph and .05 in et. I just got another converter from Joe at J+E so we'll see what happens

 

[OOLD GEEZER]

Good luck with JW Trans. It can only get better after you give him all the info he needs.

 

[gray86hatch]

Bolt together. Expensive up front but can be changed easy and quick. Call Marty Chance and talk with him. I have seen some things with this bolt together that were not possible prior. A turbo car is very hard to get the converter correct the tuner makes a big difference.
Tim

 

[1FastMopar]

Bolt together. Expensive up front but can be changed easy and quick. Call Marty Chance and talk with him. I have seen some things with this bolt together that were not possible prior. A turbo car is very hard to get the converter correct the tuner makes a big difference.
Tim

I don't know if it is my place or not, but the guys at JW are hard at work on a bolt together unit, but they have not finished it yet, I will be trying one as soon as they get things sorted out, I am sure. I have talked to a number of the major players in the business of building converters for big power adder stuff, they were all very helpful, and nothing against any of them, BUT as I have already said, JW has worked with me for a few years now, I think I owe it to them to not just jump ship and abandon them... Maybe its just me, but I think it is wrong to do that..

I have built a relationship with those guys, they have never done me wrong. I displayed my car at their booth at the Turkey Rod Run last year, I would like to continue this relationship. John Sr. said he had NO problem with me exercising other options as far as a converter, but I don't think I am ready for that yet.. I gotta give them a chance. :smt023

When it comes to getting support in the industry, I think being faithful goes a long way, it has worked for me, and I am sure it will continue to. The only rods that have ever been in my ride are GRP's, only carb has been a Pro Systems, only trans has been a JW, only pistons have been CP, you get the point.. :-D

Thanks guys for the comments and suggestions so far, but maybe some of you guys that are in the know when it comes to converter science can post your thoughts..

 

[gray86hatch]

Eddie

I hear you about being loyal. I try and do the same but still if someone elses stuff is better you need to decide. I have had some very long relationships with guys but I always look at what others are doing.

My experience with the bolt together we sold $12k in converters that we had since 04 and have 1 $5k one.

Tim

 

[BBCStang]

More than the size, the core used is important. The other biggie is not to get stuck thinking that a higher stall convertor has to slip more going thru the traps. They are indepenant of each other. By used different pump cores, stators, turbines, and clearances a good convertor guy can manipuilate stall and slip to get exactly what you want.

However, with out real engine rpm and driveshaft rpm data you and your convertor manufactor of choice are only guessing. Not that some of the companies aren't damn good at guessing, but you'll always be better off with the real data (as you already said)

 

[overkillrc]

if your heads up racing run a sprag if your bracket racing run spragless

sprag is a touch faster
spragless is more consistant.

Justin

 

[JUNKMAN1]

When it comes to loyalty I understand sticking with the same people. But liked mention above if the companies product is not what you need then I do not see a problem with going somwhere else.

 

[63 Vette]

Eddie,

You need a data logger

 

[Greg StickaDude]

This conversation sounds familiar.

 

[Lightners]

Eddie,

You need a data logger

X2. I am impressed with only the info I get from my dual channel tach (driveshaft vs engine rpm), but i'm not on your level. Good luck Eddie, you'll get it figured out.